High school wrestling: Black River's Cooper McKean lone area champion at Division III Beachwood sectional but he'll have plenty of company at districts

BEACHWOOD — Cooper McKean needed just 1:28 to bring home his first sectional championship. The Black River senior won both his matches at the Division III Beachwood sectional Saturday — the only area wrestler to win a championship at the event. He will take a No. 1 seed into the Independence district, which begins Friday. "I felt I wrestled really good today," said McKean, who secured his 90th pin in the process. "Knowing that if I made it to districts, I'd be a four-time district qualifier, I knew I had to place high so I can make it. It feels great. I've just got to get more confident on my shots, but all the work that I put in throughout the year is all coming together this season." McKean is one of 11 wrestlers from the area to advance along with two alternates. Black River finished fourth among the 15 teams with 125 team points, while Columbia was ninth with 92 and Oberlin tied for 13th with 24. McKean had a business-like day on the mat, winning his semifinal against St. John's Dalton Nellis with a pin in just 15 seconds. He needed 1:13 to pin Lorain County League-mate Ben Bowling of Columbia. He enters the district tournament with a 35-7 record, which matches his win total from last season, and is seeking his second straight bid to the state tournament. McKean also is three pins away from the school record of 92 held by Travis Owen. Black River had seven qualifiers, including McKean, who was the only one to reach the final. Mason Koberna was the only one to win a third-place match, doing so at 150. "I'm really, really proud of the guys today," Black River coach Blake Owen said. "Coming in early in the week I thought we'd get six or seven out, but then the seedings came out and I was really second-guessing myself. They showed up today. I was really impressed with how they wrestled today." Columbia had a strong showing with four qualifiers and one alternate. In addition to Bowling, Michael Frye also reached a championship and nearly won his match against Trinity freshman Derion Williams, who is ranked No. 3 by FloWrestling. Frye was eight seconds away from knocking him off, taking a 1-0 lead into the third period and riding him out until Williams pulled a reversal in the final seconds. Frye almost escaped to force overtime, but Williams held on. Prior to the final 10 seconds, the only point of the match came when Williams let Frye up immediately to start the second period. Neither wrestler had a takedown. "In the final, I was winning and just made a mental mistake in the last 20 seconds," Frye said. "I've got to clean that up. He's a tough wrestler, so every time I see him it's always going to be a dogfight." Also advancing for the Raiders was Andrew Sorensen, who took third at 120 and Rushi Patel, who was fourth at 113. Bryan Jones would have been the top seed at 165, but Columbia coach Dan Juliani said he was unable to compete with an illness, finishing his senior year at 25-8, including a Lorain County League tournament title. "I think we had bigger expectations, but I'm proud of my guys," Juliani said. "It was tough not having Bryan today, especially as a senior. This seemed to be taking a jump in difficulty at this sectional. There was some really tough competition here." Oberlin didn't qualify anyone to the district tournament. Conner McConrghy was the only wrestler to reach the podium, taking fifth to earn an alternate spot with an 8-3 decision against Rittman's Gabriel Whims. Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com and follow him @CSweeney1686 on X. TEAM STANDINGS: 1. Lake Catholic 203, 2. Akron Manchester 183, 3. Trinity 133, 4. Black River 125, 5. Mogadore 123.5, 6. Cuyahoga Heights 113, 7. Chagrin Falls 100.5, 8. Rittman 98, 9. Columbia 92, 10. Independence 78, 11. Ashtabula St. John, 75, 12. Beachwood 46, T-13. Oberlin 24, T-13. Cleveland Central Catholic 24, 15. Columbiana 0. INDIVIDUAL RESULTS 106 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Derion Williams (Trinity) dec. Michael Frye (Columbia), 2-1; THIRD: Chance Wuhr (Lake Cath.) pin Landyn Herrick (Black River), 0:54; FIFTH: Mikael Edwards (Beachwood) dec. Landen Morris (Ak. Manchester), 12-8. 113 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Ethan Ansel (Ak. Manchester) pin Hassaun Sibley (Trinity), 1:41; THIRD: Mitch Meyer (Independence) def. Rushi Patel (Columbia), by forfeit; FIFTH: Ethan Ansel (Ak. Manchester) pin Hassaun Sibley (Trinity), 1:41. 120 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Parker Pikor (Lake Cath.) def. Xavier Pearson (Trinity), by forfeit; THIRD: Andrew Sorensen (Columbia) pin Jakob Gibson (Rittman), 2:05; FIFTH: No match. 126 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Evan Kusmits (Ak. Manchester) dec. Cooper Kucia (Cuy. Heights), 8-1; THIRD: Owen Roberts (Mogadore) tech. fall Maddox Mitchell (Black River), 17-1; FIFTH: Jay McGinnis (Chagrin Falls) pin Ethan Preseren (Lake Cath.), 1:19. 132 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Joey Romano (Lake Cath.) pin Trevor Kusmits (Ak. Manchester), 0:47; THIRD: Hunter Blair (Chagrin Falls) pin Charlie Meyer (Independence), 2:27; FIFTH: Brian Eddy (Trinity) maj. dec. Travis Hummel (Mogadore), 11-2). 138 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Joey McGuire (Rittman) dec. (Ak. Manchester), 10-7; THIRD: Manoli Fourtounis (Independence) dec. Jayden Huszczo (Lake Cath.), 8-7; 5th Place: Match Hector Aboytes (Cle. Cent. Cath.) dec. Owen Stull (Chagrin Falls), 10-4. 144 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Carter Moore (Ak. Manchester) maj. dec. Harrison Fritz (Chagrin Falls), 10-0; THIRD: Kasey Pruitt (Mogadore) pin Ryan Sharp (Lake Cath.), 0:35; FIFTH: Shea Fuller (Columbia) pin Fletcher Sturgill (Cuy. Heights), 1:08. 150 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Caleb Greenwood (Beachwood) maj. dec. Reginald Banies (Trinity), 11-2; THIRD: Mason Koberna (Black River) dec. Michael Valentino (Lake Cath.), 10-9; FIFTH: Luke Masek (Independence) maj. dec. Dustin Kraemer (Cuy. Heights),14-5. 157 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Matthew Plum (Mogadore) pin Joseph Piccirillo (Ash. St. John), 3:58; THIRD: Jake Livingston (Ak. Manchester) dec. Kayden Hendershot (Black River), 3-1 (SV); FIFTH: Logan Pelfrey (Rittman) pin Ethan Nelson (Chagrin Falls), 3:00. 165 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Ayden Meade (Ak. Manchester) pin Jake McClintock (Chagrin Falls), 1:49; THIRD: Hunter Shreve (Rittman) pin Luke Zwolinkski (Lake Cath.), 1:17; FIFTH: Jake Vitron (Independence) pin Jackson Brewer (Black River), 2:22. 175 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Brandon Bruce-Bey (Trinity) dec. Aiden Heath (Ash. St. John), 9-3; THIRD: Cole Reese (Mogadore) pin Dozier Hendershot (Black River), 1:21; FIFTH: Conner McConrghy (Oberlin) dec. Gabriel Whims (Rittman), 8-3. 190 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Justin Metheney (Rittman) dec. Cameron Carter (Trinity), 3-2; THIRD: Dylan Benedum (Mogadore) dec. Francis Connors (Cuy. Heights), 8-2; FIFTH: Noah Heath (Ash. St. John) pin Tim Knapp (Lake Cath.), 0:23. 215 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Danny Zmorowski (Lake Cath.) pin Jeremiah Reed (Cuy. Heights), 0:43; THIRD: Brody Jackovitch (Ak. Manchester) dec. Colton Moskal (Black River), 9-2; FIFTH: Jeff Moore IV (Trinity) pin Alex Andrews (Columbia), 0:36. 285 — CHAMPIONSHIP: Cooper McKean (Black River) pin Ben Bowling (Columbia), 1:13; THIRD: Dalton Nellis (Ash. St. John) pin Aiden Flynn (Cuy. Heights), 0:59; FIFTH: Caiden Shaw (Mogadore) pin Matt Florence (Lake Cath.), 0:23.